Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has commissioned a newly completed three-kilometre road in Ekwusigo Local Government Area, describing the project as evidence that local governments in the state are regaining the capacity to deliver infrastructure at the grassroots.
The road, constructed by the Ekwusigo Local Government administration under Mayor Chimezie Obi, features cement stabilisation, stone-base laying and asphalt finishing. The project was commissioned on September 19.
Speaking during the commissioning, Soludo commended the Ekwusigo council for what he described as the quality of the project, saying he doubted whether any local government in Anambra had constructed a road of comparable standard in the last 20 years.
He said the project represented a “proof of concept” of what empowered local administrations could achieve when they have the financial capacity to undertake development projects.
According to the governor, his administration had restructured the local government system through local administration laws aimed at improving the councils’ fiscal strength, efficiency and long-term sustainability.
Soludo said the changes were beginning to produce visible results, arguing that local councils were now able to undertake projects and meet obligations that had previously been difficult for them.
“The era when Local Government Councils were struggling to pay primary health workers, pensioners, and gratuities is over,” the governor said in a statement on the project.
He also announced plans to visit other local government areas in the coming weeks to commission projects executed by their respective mayors.
Soludo said more than 137 roads and other projects across Anambra were awaiting commissioning, describing the state as a major construction site.
At the Ekwusigo ceremony, the governor also commissioned a legislative building within the local government secretariat and presented cash awards to students and schools involved in the council's skills-acquisition programme.
Mayor Chimezie Obi, while speaking at the event, highlighted projects executed by his administration and commended the state government's approach to local government development.
The Ekwusigo council has also reported other infrastructure and security initiatives, including the installation of CCTV cameras and solar-powered streetlights across the local government area.
The road commissioning comes amid an ongoing debate in Anambra over governance, public finances and the performance of successive administrations in the state. Soludo's latest remarks focus on the role of empowered local governments in delivering infrastructure directly to communities, while the state government continues to promote its local administration reforms as part of its development agenda.
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